Tustin Fields/Columbus Grove

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pipedr

New member
Hi Everyone,

I have recently discovered the Tustin Fields/Columbus Grove area.  What do people think of this area compared to Irvine areas like Oak Creek, Quail Hill, Laguna Altura, Woodbridge?

I have been looking closer to my work in Newport Beach, so the prices seem like a bargain to me compared to the $400-500/sq ft. prices in the newer areas of Newport Beach, and Newport Coast, Turtle Ridge, and Turtle Rock. 

Advantages that I see:
1) Redfin comps are at around $280/sq ft., compared to $300s in Oak Creek/Woodbridge and $350-$400s for Quail Hill and Laguna Altura.
2) Feeds into Irvine School District and Woodbridge High
3) Newer construction

I sat in one of the parks and heard a train horn, but it wasn't very loud--quieter than surrounding traffic. 

I'm looking in the 0.8-1M range, with max of 1.2M.  Any advice?
 
pipedr said:
Hi Everyone,

I have recently discovered the Tustin Fields/Columbus Grove area.  What do people think of this area compared to Irvine areas like Oak Creek, Quail Hill, Laguna Altura, Woodbridge?

I have been looking closer to my work in Newport Beach, so the prices seem like a bargain to me compared to the $400-500/sq ft. prices in the newer areas of Newport Beach, and Newport Coast, Turtle Ridge, and Turtle Rock. 

Advantages that I see:
1) Redfin comps are at around $280/sq ft., compared to $300s in Oak Creek/Woodbridge and $350-$400s for Quail Hill and Laguna Altura.
2) Feeds into Irvine School District and Woodbridge High
3) Newer construction

I sat in one of the parks and heard a train horn, but it wasn't very loud--quieter than surrounding traffic. 

I'm looking in the 0.8-1M range, with max of 1.2M.  Any advice?
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum.  In terms of location, the Tustin Fields/Columbus area is very good and central.  The few negatives are that it has high Mello Roos, a very strict HOA, some of the homes are by the power lines or back up to Harvard or Jamboree, and the train tracks aren't far away.  You can't just look at the price per SF of the homes without adjusting them for Mello Roos and HOA because areas like Oak Creek and Quail Hill have much lower Mello Roos and Woodbridge doesn't have any Mello Roos.  The best way to do this is to add the ANNUAL HOA and Mello Roos cost and divide by the interest rate for the 30-year fixed loan (some people use 5%) and then add that amount to the price of the home and divide by the total SF to get the adjusted price per SF.
 
CG and TF are newer, and that's about it. They are surrounded by busy streets (Harvard, Edinger, Jamboree freeway), next to the train tracks, some homes are backed by a sewage drain... err... canal, and of course the MR is insane, especially for CG (expect the pay the taxes someone might pay for a house worth double).

Out of all your choices, I'd say Quail Hill is the best pick, although the location is sort of isolated (unlike CG,TF,WB).

 
Anything near/in Tustin Legacy and that awesomely designed shopping center, The District, is 1 billion times better than Irvine!!!

<< Hey... test hi-jacked my account! >>

Welcome to TI pipedr.

Seriously, there are reasons why TF/CG are priced lower than the other areas you listed. As mentioned by previous posters, there are issues with being close to certain things (power lines, storm drain, Jamboree, waste facility, train tracks, former base) but if you don't mind them, you can find some good values in those areas... and quite honestly, there is always something wrong with any area you choose. Oak Creek and Quail Hill are very close to the 405 and power lines and Woodbridge has that whole toxic plume thing (wait... did test hi-jack me again?).

It also depends on the size of home you are looking for and what type of style (older/newer/condo/SFR). Personally, I prefer Quail Hill but you will have to pay more and you will get less. If you have $1mil to spend... I would look at the Tapestry models (especially the ones with the view backyards) but know that fundamentally, that is much higher than they should be (tip to IndieDev).

Good luck with your search.
 
pipedr said:
Hi Everyone,

I have recently discovered the Tustin Fields/Columbus Grove area.  What do people think of this area compared to Irvine areas like Oak Creek, Quail Hill, Laguna Altura, Woodbridge?

I have been looking closer to my work in Newport Beach, so the prices seem like a bargain to me compared to the $400-500/sq ft. prices in the newer areas of Newport Beach, and Newport Coast, Turtle Ridge, and Turtle Rock. 

Advantages that I see:
1) Redfin comps are at around $280/sq ft., compared to $300s in Oak Creek/Woodbridge and $350-$400s for Quail Hill and Laguna Altura.
2) Feeds into Irvine School District and Woodbridge High
3) Newer construction

I sat in one of the parks and heard a train horn, but it wasn't very loud--quieter than surrounding traffic. 

I'm looking in the 0.8-1M range, with max of 1.2M.  Any advice?
Click to expand...

I don't follow newport pricing, so the first thing I would wonder if how they are holding value.  Irvine has been dropping, and some like myself believe it has further to fall.  Newport is a beach area and they typically maintain value better, so that might be something to factor in.  If you buy something at $400 a sqft now, and it stays that high for the next 5 year that might be better than buying $280 sqft now and if being $250 in 5 years.

Location in terms of nearness to things I like I would say CG/TF are the best.  However I think they are on toxic plumes, in the airport corridor, and surrounded by noisy streets/trains/waste disposal sites.  I was thinking of buying in CG, but decided against it for those reasons.  LA isn't worth the prices they are currently asking, if you scan the forums some you can see tons of reasons why.  Oak Creek is real close to the 405 in certain points, so that might be a deal breaker for you.  Woodbridge is decent, but as Indie said Quail Hill is the best of the lot.  It'll be a little bit more money, but they typically sell better, aer in a nicer area, and I don't think they have the toxic plume problem as they are up hill.  Also, I hear they get nice breezes.
 
Thanks for all of your opinions.  USCTrojanCPA, can you help me with the Mello-Roos issue?

I learned that you can look up the tax bill online to see what the Mello-Roos is for a particular property.  When I do this for properties in Tustin Fields, Oak Park, Westpark and Quail Hill, the Basic Levy Rate is 1% for everyone.  Tustin Fields has a much higher charge under Mello-Roos, but the other properties have a large charge under 1915 AD Bond.  When you add up all the bonds and special assessment user fees (Mello-Roos and 1915 AD Bend are always the largest), all of these places make you pay within the range of $3600-3900 over the Basic Levy Rate.  Doesn't this mean that the "fee" for living in these areas are almost equivalent?  (Or can you deduct other items other than the Basic Levy Rate on your income tax?)

 
Yeah Newport has been fairly resistant to price changes, trust me I've been looking. Very little change in median sold YOY. I don't anticipate Newport will correct as drastically as Irvine, or South County (AV, MV, LN, DP) as prices for that area were already high end even before the bubble.
 
pipedr said:
Thanks for all of your opinions.  USCTrojanCPA, can you help me with the Mello-Roos issue?

I learned that you can look up the tax bill online to see what the Mello-Roos is for a particular property.  When I do this for properties in Tustin Fields, Oak Park, Westpark and Quail Hill, the Basic Levy Rate is 1% for everyone.  Tustin Fields has a much higher charge under Mello-Roos, but the other properties have a large charge under 1915 AD Bond.  When you add up all the bonds and special assessment user fees (Mello-Roos and 1915 AD Bend are always the largest), all of these places make you pay within the range of $3600-3900 over the Basic Levy Rate.  Doesn't this mean that the "fee" for living in these areas are almost equivalent?  (Or can you deduct other items other than the Basic Levy Rate on your income tax?)
Click to expand...

All the special assessments like that "can not" be deducted on your taxes.  I say "can not" because I hear of people that do, but have also hear of a few of them getting audited and bad things happen.  Mello-Roos are bond that the community pays, so a Mello-Roos fee is just the general name while 1915 AD Bond is the specific bond residents pay towards.
 
IndieDev said:
Yeah Newport has been fairly resistant to price changes, trust me I've been looking. Very little change in median sold YOY. I don't anticipate Newport will correct as drastically as Irvine, or South County (AV, MV, LN, DP) as prices for that area were already high end even before the bubble.
Click to expand...

Yeah, if this is the case I would say newport is probably the better way to go if you have the money and it is close to work.  I would imagine the MRs will die off faster as the areas should be older, to touch on the other topic brought up.
 
The City of Irvine recently established a quiet zone at the Harvard rail crossing between Irvine Center Drive and Walnut. The quiet zone went into effect Saturday, March 31.

http://www.cityofirvine.org/news/displaynews.asp?NewsID=1517&TargetID=1
 
I would take Tustin Field over Potty or Landfill if I had to choose a home to raise my family. The plane noise and voc are a much less risk to my health. It is more central. I like the Costco and Target at the District the best. No fire and jail hazards are comforting. The train horn issue being eliminated is a big plus.
 
irvinehomeshopper said:
I would take Tustin Field over Potty or Landfill if I had to choose a home to raise my family. The plane noise and voc are a much less risk to my health. It is more central. I like the Costco and Target at the District the best. No fire and jail hazards are comforting. The train horn issue being eliminated is a big plus.
Click to expand...

How much are the MR over there?
 
TFII has MR of less than $3000 a year for a 3000 sq ft house.  It is by far the lowest MR for any newer homes that are zoned to IUSD.  We were in escrow but it was the shady realtor + buyer crap that I posted about before that made us drop that particular house.  We still like it but very few properties come up for sale there and it doesnt have much amenities so now we are leaning towards WB.
 
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